Samsung W2017, Just Your Average $3000 Flip Phone

Humans just love creating needlessly expensive things just because we can, don’t we? From ice cream sundaes topped with edible gold leaf to Victoria’s Secret fantasy bras worth millions of dollars… Well, Samsung’s latest creation, the Samsung W2017, might not be quite as extravagant as an 18-karat gold bra with 9000 diamonds and emeralds inset, but its price tag of approximately $3000 is still far from ordinary.

The Samsung W2017 is a high-end Android-powered flip phone that was just officially announced this week. But this smartphone is lightyears away from that old Nokia flip you had in 2004 – it’s essentially a double-sided touchscreen phone that opens up to reveal a classic dial pad on the inside. When it’s closed, you might not even realize it’s a flip phone at first glance.

What’s the release date for the Samsung W2017?

No release date has been announced by Samsung as of yet – the Samsung W2017 didn’t even officially exist until this week (although rumors have been buzzing about it for several months and several photos were leaked a few weeks ago under the code name Veyron). So no one really knows when the device will be put on the market.

Its predecessor, the Samsung W2016, was made available in late 2015, so it’s reasonable to assume that the Samsung W2017 will be sold before the end of the year. What we are almost certain of is that when this device does reach the market, it will be exclusively in China. So if you’ve got some money to burn and are dying to have the latest greatest Android gadget, you’ll probably have to make a trip to the other side of the world to get your hands on this one. Maybe make a holiday vacation out of it?

Samsung W2017 technical specs

As you would expect for such a premium gadget from such a reputable company as Samsung, the Samsung W2017 comes fully equipped with more or less the best that money can buy.

It is a fairly standard size, moving away from the “phablet” trend, approximately 5 x 2.5 inches, and 16 mm thick, slightly more than a half inch. The crazy part is that its half inch of thickness is enough to support two screens, an exterior and interior. Each screen measures 4.2”, and the technology that allows two high-resolution screens to exist back-to-back in such a tight space is Samsung’s Super AMOLED. AMOLED (active matrix light emitting diode) is an alternative to LCD displays that is gaining popularity because of its high contrast ratio, which creates deep blacks and vibrant colors, as well as its power-saving abilities. AMOLED doesn’t require a backlight, so screens can be super thin and very energy efficient, and this is also how these screens are able to achieve such a great contrast ratio. Samsung went one step further, though, and improved upon some of the problems with AMOLED screens with their unique “Super” AMOLED. Basically, this translates to top-notch picture quality.

Other relevant specs include:

Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor

4GB RAM

64GB internal memory + additional external memory on microSD

5 Mpx selfie cam

12 Mpx main camera

2300 mAh battery with wireless charging

Powered by Android Marshmallow, can probably be upgraded to Nougat later on

Top features of the Samsung W2017

In addition to the superior picture quality on the two 1080p screens, the smartphone has 4K super HD video recording ability. The Samsung also has support for fingerprint scanning and something interesting called the “Always On Display”. Basically, when the flip phone is closed, rather than having the screen go completely black when locked, it has a permanent/dynamic display showing the date and time, notifications, etc. This sounds like a total drain on your battery, but remember what I said earlier about the AMOLED screens? They don’t use a backlight, and pixels where the display color is black will shut off entirely. So the Always On Display only consumes approximately 1% battery per hour, and you can keep this on the low end by choosing a dark wallpaper.

The Samsung W2017 photos that have been leaked thus far show images in both black and gold. I mean, if you’re going to drop $3000 on a phone, you may as well go all out and get one that makes you want to sing “I’m So Fancy”, right? (I know, that was a different model, but the gold W2017 made me think of it and now I can’t get it out of my head.)